10 Interior Design Trends Replacing Old Favorites, Including Why Lamps Are Taking Over From Ceiling Lights

A shower curtain is the one thing in a bathroom that gets replaced every year and still never looks clean. Designers are swapping it for a fixed panel of fluted glass, the kind with vertical ribs that blur whatever is behind it. It lets daylight through, keeps some privacy and never goes in the washing machine. Fluted panels now come on shower doors and as a single fixed screen for walk-in showers. If new glass isn’t in the plans, a clear door with a frosted strip at eye level gives a similar effect.

For about ten years, gray walls, gray floors and gray sofas came with nearly every new house. Designers now say the cool, steely grays are the ones aging fastest, and they are moving to warmer neutrals: beige, taupe, mushroom and putty, paired with wood. One warm wall, a rug with red in it or a few pillows change how the gray around them reads.

When we moved in almost 3 years ago our den was 50 shades of gray, but with a small baby, any changes were on the back burner. We slowly but surely added color and texture and transformed it into a cozy, warm space that we love hanging out in!

Since the space is on the smaller side and lacks natural light I decided to work with it and lean in to the dark/cozy/library vibes

Vertical blinds on a sliding glass door rattle every time the door opens, and one slat always ends up crooked. Designers suggest full curtain panels instead, hung high and wide enough to clear the glass when they’re open. A sheer panel behind a heavier one gives light in the day and privacy at night. Renters can even hang curtains from the existing blind track, without drilling a single hole.

“I need to iron them and maybe hem them but I finally switched my vertical blinds to curtains!”

Designers say a single ceiling fixture flattens a room: everything gets the same light, and nothing looks warm. In 2026 they are planning rooms around table lamps, floor lamps and sconces at different heights, and the overhead light is kept for cleaning and looking for keys. Fabric or frosted shades soften the glow, and a dimmer helps. Two or three lamps are usually enough to change how a living room feels in the evening.

“My living room. Overhead lights are absolutely forbidden here”

Overhead lights remind me of cold places, like doctors offices or work spaces.

Wall-to-wall carpet isn’t gone. Designers still choose it for bedrooms, where softness matters most. In living rooms, though, the move is toward wood floors with an area rug that can be lifted, cleaned or swapped when the room changes. A rug large enough for the front legs of every chair to rest on it makes a room look finished.

“After six years, I could finally afford wood flooring. I’m so happy!”

I’m open to area rug suggestions.

It’s like night and day. I feel like I’m in a different house all together.

Freestanding bookcases wobble and leave a dusty gap behind them. Built-ins, especially a window seat flanked by shelves, are back in design magazines as a way to turn an awkward wall into the most used corner of the house. Most DIY versions are simple cabinet boxes with a bench on top and trim to hide the seams.

“DIY built in bench and display shelves, after/before”

I discovered nothing is level, lots of gap fillers and trim to hide things, the cabinet doors against the walls do not fully open as I didn’t take face trim thickness to account.

Otherwise, I’m happy with it!

They make such a huge difference in how the rooms feel, like much more upscale. It was such a plain room before that I never used, now I plain to have tea and do my teams meetings here

Shiplap defined walls for a decade. Designers now call flat paint too predictable and shiplap too familiar, and they are choosing limewash and plaster finishes instead. Limewash is a mineral paint brushed on in overlapping strokes, so the color looks cloudy and shifts with the light through the day. It goes on with a brush, never a roller, and takes some practice, which is why most people start with one wall.

Limewashed the walls myself. Love how it turned out, was going for organic modern desert oasis (project is in Palm Springs, CA) and it’s definitely turned into a retreat.

A wreath in the middle of the door is the classic holiday look, which is exactly why decorators are moving the greenery to the frame. A garland running up both sides and across the top fills the whole entrance and works from November to the new year. Some people tuck in pinecones or dried orange slices; others hang small baskets of greenery instead. The wreath, meanwhile, is moving indoors, over a mantel or a mirror.

The matching set, a sofa, a loveseat and two end tables from one showroom, is what designers now call dated. They prefer rooms that look gathered over time, with older pieces mixed in with new ones. In one 2025 survey of designers, vintage and antique items made up an average of 36% of everything they sourced for clients, the highest share since 2021.

“New apartment! Finally got the living room to a place I like it. Pretty much all vintage furniture.”

My Dad found it for me years ago while I was taking a history of architecture/design course in college and mentioned that I liked Mission* type stuff.

The last trend here is less a product than a habit. Designers describe 2026 as a turn from rooms that look good to rooms that feel good: fewer objects bought for a shelf and more things that get used every day. A reading chair with a lamp and the books within reach is the clearest example. It is also the oldest trend on this list.

“My Reading Place in the Evening”

The chair is from the 1950s.

My little library.